Open studios and an exhibition with no boundaries!

Visitors to the Art House this Saturday will be able to join in the Open Studios event, meet artists and creative businesses who call the place their home and see a unique exhibition too which runs through to October 19. Boundary No Boundary charts Wakefield artist Tony Wade’s exploration of the Wakefield District boundary. In May, June and July this year Tony walked, documented and created paintings along the entire length of the district boundary, from the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in the south, past South Elmsall, Knottingley, Castleford, Lofthouse and Ossett. Tony also interviewed people he met. “I wanted to find what this boundary means to people. Do they acknowledge it or ignore it.” Although the length of the boundary is only 60 miles Tony walked over 170 miles during the project as many areas were inaccessible. For the paintings Tony split the boundary into 20 three mile stages and found a spot on each stage to paint a panorama on three wooden panels of what he could see looking in front of him. The full set of 60 paintings represents a complete view from the district looking out. “I’m really looking forward to the exhibition at The Art House because that will be the first time I get to view all the paintings like this,” he said.

Tony had help completing his task with funding from Arts Council England and support from Yorkshire Sculpture Park, National Coal Mining Museum England, The Art House and Wakefield Libraries.

He says “I’m really grateful for all the help I received, not only from the large organisations but also the hundreds of people I met who were happy to talk”

Tony has created a web site where all the walking routes, interviews and paintings can be seen at www.boundarynoboundary.wixsite.com/home